The Nations' Jungle Struggle
by StarSlingerSnitch
Summary: (Hetalia/Power Rangers) Dai Shi has been hunting for a new plan and he's finally found one. He's learned if he can take over the personified nations, it's literally taking over the world. So to defeat Dai Shi's evil new plan, the Jungle Fury rangers are going to need some new allies. Collaboration with ForestFireSong
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I'm doing this story with the lovely ForestFireSong. If you want to see her other stories just click on over to her profile. We alternate chapters. This one is mine, Lily's POV. Hers will be Sealand's in chapter 2. This story takes place after 'Race to the Nexus' so Dominic has the Rhino Steel Zord. Jellica, Carnisoar, and Grizzaka will also be in it, as well as the other main villains. They might be a little OOC, but that's the power of Fanfic people! So without further ado, here's a crossover of PRJF and Hetalia. Okay go. **

"Hey Theo, can you get table seven? I have a party of nine coming," I call to Theo across the counter at Jungle Karma Pizza. At first I don't think he hears me over the din of the restaurant but then he looks up from the cash register.

"Sure Lil, I got you covered." I give him a grateful smile as I place money in his hand.

"Thanks. I would've asked Casey, but he already has half the restaurant since RJ'S gone again on a fishing expedition." I roll my eyes and Theo shakes his head.

"It's not even to fish! I really don't see the sense in it." I lean against the counter for a second to catch my breath. After working for three whole days with no attack is probably some sort of record. And since RJ is gone, we all have to work harder.

At that moment Dominic steps from behind the door to the kitchen in a jacket. He has a pizza box tucked under one arm and starts to waltz past us.

"And where are you going, Dom?" Theo asks pointedly. Dominic cringes.

"I have a delivery to go to, Theo."

"And you're leaving Casey and Fran by themselves in the kitchen at lunch hour?" Theo asks, mock-outraged. Dominic shrugs.

"I'll be back. Besides, it's one delivery."

"Lighten up, Theo." I say lightly. "Hurry back Dom, or I'll never forgive you," I call after him as he walks out the front door. Theo sighs.

"That guy…" he mutters before he opens the register and gives me the change. I smile at him.

"I'll see you. And don't forget you have seven." Theo raises one eyebrow at me.

"Lil, you're talking to the master of multitasking. You'd think I forget?" I pretend to think for a moment, then I have a devious thought. Theo won't like it though.

"Well, you did fill all the cheese shakers with salt one time." That was before he had learned to clear his mind of clutter from Master Swoop. He was still good at multitasking and being good at everything, but now he loosened up more and wasn't always good at everything, no matter how much he wanted to be.

"Hey, that was one time! And besides-" I cut Theo off before he can work himself up.

"Bye Theo." I wink at him. Then I prance off to my party of nine. Since more than half of them were kids, they preoccupied my mind for a while until I notice thick-eye browed guy in a sailor suit followed by another kid with messy, light brown hair. My eyes light up at the prospect of new customers. But before I can take over them I have to get the kids orders. With them all screaming and yelling over each other, I just grin and bear it before I'm thankful to just walk away and up to the oven to call thorough it.

"Hey guys, I need one special, two delights and a mini-special," I say loudly, bearing the heat for a minute. Casey gets back to me and I can barely see him through the slit in the oven. But I can see the flour on his apron and hands and I feel myself blush a little.

Or that might've been from the oven's fire as the heat was pretty, well, hot.

"Okay got you." I hear him repeat the order to Fran, who I picture is nodding in attention and going to work. I wipe a piece of hair out of my face.

"Oh and Casey?" I call to him I see his back turn back to me and bend down.

"What?" he asks, curious. I smile, feeling my heart flutter a little bit. Even though I told him he's more like a little brother to me, I still find him attractive. It's just in the heat of the moment I didn't know how to handle it and I just said what I'd normally say to anyone that hinted that I liked them.

"We got new customers," I reply. I can almost feel his smile and he lets out a laugh.

"Good. Make sure to please them. Although, being you, I'm sure that won't be much of a problem." He turns from the oven and gets to work before I can answer. I walk to the new customers table happily smiling. It might've been from the fact that the lunch hour was almost over or that Dai Shi hadn't attacked in the last few days, but I'm pretty sure it was Casey.

"Welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza. I'm Lily and I'll be looking after you guys today. You haven't been here before, have you?" I ask, wondering where these guys came from. Despite being a ranger and all, working in a restaurant-especially a pizza shop-you kind of get to know mostly everyone who lives here.

And now that I get a closer look at them, they look more like, well…kids. Not super young kids, but still maybe a little younger than us. _What could kids be doing out by themselves in Ocean bluff?_ I wonder. _It's certainly a little unusual._

"No, we're from far away and we're visiting a friend, but typically he hasn't shown up yet!" The one in the sailor suit answers enthusiastically. He has a slight British accent. I raise my eyebrows a little. I mean, people tell me I'm bubbly and optimistic but he's practically bouncing off the seat of the orange booth. His companion is a little calmer.

"Y-yeah, he's not exactly known for b-being on time," his friend chimes in. For some reason he looks nervous, but I just smile and that seems to reassure him.

"Well, you should still give him a chance. What would you like to drink or do you want to wait for him?" I ask. Being the person I am, I can't help but defend their unknown friend, who is probably as old as they are.

"No, we'll order and eat without him," the sailor says.

"Well, I'll give you a few minutes to look over the menu and I'll be right back." I walk away towards Theo who is still behind the register but has his eyes closed.

"Hey Theo? Earth to Theo!" I say. His eyes snap open.

"How did that party of nine go?" he asks, yawning. I nudge him to wake him up even more.

"Were you sleeping?" I inquire, ignoring his question, because I don't' really want to talk about how hard it is look over so many children. He shakes his head.

"No!" he declares firmly. "I was relaxing and meditating." I roll my eyes.

"Sure Theo. Anyway, we got new customers, but they look more like kids then adults." Theo looks over to where I incline my head.

"Yeah, they do. Don't give them a hard time though."

"Like I would," I smile. At that moment we here a beep. The beep that hadn't come in three days. The beep that signaled something was very wrong. I hoped that it would just be RJ checking up on us but in the back of my mind I knew it wouldn't. Theo turns around and inconspicuously puts on his morpher. I keep an eye on everyone around us as he speaks quietly to whoever's on the other end. After a minute he takes them off and looks at me seriously.

"Casey went upstairs to see what was happening, if anything, and it looks like we have trouble." I feel my heart sink a little bit but I but on a brave face. I actually relish the fights They give me sort of…rush, if you will.

"Okay then. Looks like my new customers will have to wait." We both nod than Theo goes to the back room quickly to let Fran know that she's alone. I quickly walk to the table to let them know I'll be a little slow. Before I get there Theo, done alerting Fran, grabs my arm.

"Lily, we have to go. Fran will take care of them. Casey's already on his way."

"Right," I say and I toss off my apron and hat on the counter, knowing Fran will pick them up. As we rush off out the front door, I don't notice my new customers staring at us in fascination, nor do I notice that they get up as if to follow us.

"Did you guys let Dom know?" I ask as Theo and I run to the square. He shakes his head.

"Don't worry, I got it." I put on my Solar Morpher. "Dom?"

"Hey Lily. I'm on my way back, don't freak out."

"Dominic," I say seriously. "We've got trouble. The town square. We're already on our way."

"Okay, I'm on my way," I hear the cheerfulness in his voice fade to be replaced with determination and can't help but smile, knowing even though we haven't fought in awhile-okay, a few days, but still-we got this.

"Should we morph?" I hint at Theo. He nods.

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" We both shout as we run. In a moment we are in our outfits, still running. But when we reach the square, we see Casey already there. Dominic arrives a few moments later. There are already Rinshi crowding the square.

"About time you guys showed up!" Casey calls to us, rolling under a Rinshi's kick and shoving him down in the chest.

"Sorry Casey! But leave some fun for us!" Theo shouts back, already holding his Jungle Tonfa. I get out my Jungle Bo, ready to take on the Rinshi.

"No problem Theo!" Casey cries as he comes to join us. Dominic holds up a hand and I notice he isn't morphed yet.

"Hang on," he says and Theo sighs exasperatedly.

"Why didn't you do this before you came?" he asks in an annoyed tone. Dominic shrugs, then gives a small laugh. He gets out his Rhino Morpher and is enlarges.

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" he yells, then turns into the Rhino ranger before us. Theo sighs again.

"Finally," he mutters. I roll my eyes, then nudge Theo. His helmeted head turns to me. I can almost see his eyes softening. We stand in a line. Casey inclines his head to us.

"Ready?" Dom and Theo nod.

"Let's just get this over with," I answer him. We then run off to our separate battles, as the civilians had already run for safety.

I dodge a kick from a Rinshi and instead I trip it. One grabs my shoulders, so I grab theirs and throw them to the side. They hurl into a few others and they all fall.

Another one goes for me and I block their hit then with my other hand I give them a few hits to the stomach. As three come at me at once, I jump in the air, turn in the air, and give them a powerful kick that sends them flying backwards. I then jump a little, spin around with my leg out, and kick them all down.

As more come, I smile inside my helmet. This is what I've been missing.

"Cheetah jab!" I cry then start to punch them quickly, mercilessly. Some try to hit me but I deflect their shots and soon they are all lying down around me. Then, they vanish in a cloud of purple smoke.

"Good job rangers, but that was just the warm up, I' m afraid," a voice calls down on us. We look around. It seemed to come from the top of one of the many glass-plated buildings around us.

"It sounded like Grizzaka," Dominic mutters I nod.

"Come out, Grizzaka, and show yourself!" Casey shouts. And lo and behold, Grizzaka appears before us.

"Long time no see," Dominic calls to him. Grizzaka smiles.

"I'm glad you remember me then," he answers calmly.

"Like we could forget you," Theo says, pointing his Tonfa at him. Grizzaka merely adjusts his arm armor.

"Are you ready to play rangers?" he growls.

"You bet we are!" Casey answers, then turns to us. "Come on guys, we can take him." Grizzaka is pretty powerful, but we've beat him before. Not permanently, but still.

But before we can use any of our attacks, Grizzaka hits us with one of his own. We are blasted off the ground and thrown backward. I crash into an abandoned car and tumble off the front. _Owwww…that hurt._

Casey, who was thrown not far from me, runs up and helps me up. I'm glad I can't feel him through my suit or that he can't see through me helmet, because I'd be faintly blushing.

"You okay?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah. Let's finish this." We look to Theo who is gingerly getting up. He looks at us and we all nod.

"Thinking what I'm thinking?" he yells.

"Yep," I call back.

"Jungle Master Mode!" we all scream, then a few moments later, we are in Jungle Master Mode. "Firing Jets!" we all yell out as we start off to Grizzaka. Dom runs behind us, ready for the finishing blow.

But Grizzaka just blasts another ball of explosions at us and we fall again.

And repeat. And repeat again.

No matter what we do, we can't beat him this time. And it's getting harder and harder to get back up. Finally, I can't anymore. It just hurts too much and I'm so beaten and tired. After we are all thrown that time, I feel myself de-morph.

"Lily!" the others exclaim and I notice Theo is de-morphed too.

"Guys, I'm okay. Just finish him," I manage out. Theo looks at me, concerned.

"Had enough, rangers?" Grizzaka calls out to us. Casey and Dominic turn to him.

"Okay, now you've made me mad!" Casey declares, making a fist. He and Dom start forward but are hit by another one of Grizzaka's explosions and they fly towards us and land in front of me and Theo.

"Guys!" I call weakly, but keeping my eyes open is becoming too much. I clutch my stomach from the pain and I see Casey, Dom, and Theo all lie there, helpless.

"Guys…" I say again, wearier then before. It's all I can do to see Grizzaka make his way towards us, ready to finish us off.

_No…I have to get up, I have to keep fighting._

But I can't. The last thing I see before I black out is two people running towards us, one clothed in a sailor suit.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, ForestFireSong here ^^ It's awesome to be doing a collab with StarSlingerSnitch. This is where our chapter starts off with Sealand, so you Hetalia fans reading this (if any) get ready to fangirl.**

**Pairings in here will include (as far as I know): Casey/Lily/Theo/Liechtenstein, Seborga/Monaco, and RJ is forever alone. On a random note, does RJ remind any Furuba fans- because I'm assuming people are reading this- of Shigure?**

"….and you haven't been to America in forever, so will you come with me?" Sealand finishs his long and probably run-on sentence to his friend Latvia. Like his many phone conversations with the fellow personified nation, Latvia hasn't spoken much until a question was asked.

"Ah…I suppose…The l-last time I saw America was when I visited Lithuania while h-he was working there…" Even though Latvia and Sealand are good friends, he still hadn't lost his stuttering that was no doubt a side effect of living with Russia for so long.

"Great! America told me to meet him at some place called Ocean Bluff. Will you come over here?"

Latvia pauses. "D-depends on where 'here' is. I'm not coming out to your fort in the ocean." Despite Sealand's constant reassurance, Latvia's still doubtful of his friend's home's structural safety. "Are you with S-sweden and Finland?"

"No, I'm over at Jerkland's place." Latvia winces at the casual use of Sealand's nickname for his older brother, England.

"Okay, I'll come over…"

"Maybe we can watch Power Rangers before we leave!" Sealand adds just as Latvia hangs up.

Sighing and rubbing his eyes, (Sealand rarely considers time differences whenever he calls) Latvia ponders over the micronation's obsession with said show and how he's suddenly going to America, but having to stop by England's place first.

How does he always get himself in these situations?

Apparently it's just part of having Sealand as his best friend.

"Is this the place?" Latvia asks, having met Sealand at the airport. They had exited and were now walking around the city of Ocean Bluff.

"Uh-huh," Sealand replies. "But America-"

"Alfred," Latvia meekly corrects him, not wanting anyone to hear and wonder why exactly they had a friend named after the country they were currently in.

"Yeah, Alfred said that he'd meet us at the airport."

"I g-guess not…" Latvia says. He was fairly sure they would have noticed the loud, energetic blond while at the airport. He looks over at Sealand, wondering if his friend is worried, but he shows no sign of it as he looks around the city.

"Alfred's usually late or something," Sealand shrugs. "Apparently that's why Jerkland and Germany are always getting mad at him…"

Sealand had never been to actual World Meeting, Latvia remembers, and therefore would not know the extent of both nations' fury towards America. Even though it was a daily thing, Latvia can still hear Germany's yells whenever one of the main world superpowers was late.

"…but I haven't seen him in awhile, because the last time he came Eng- I mean, Arthur threw him out yelling something about him being a bloody git or whatever. And he hardly ever visits the Nordics…"

Sensing his chance, Latvia asks, "Y-you're usually with Sweden and Fin- I mean, Berwald and Tino, right? Why were you at your brother's place?"

"Denmark wanted to take everyone skiing or something, but I was too young." Sealand rolls his eyes, and before Latvia can correct his usage of country names, he bursts out, "Hey, I'm hungry! Can we at least get some food while we wait or something?"

"I s-suppose." Latvia replies, well aware of the fact that people were looking at them, no doubt wondering where their parents were.

Sealand smiles, one of his smiles that usually makes up for whatever trouble he always manages to get himself and Latvia in, and then proceeds to drag Latvia about, looking for a place for them to eat.

He stops in front of a pizza place entitled "Jungle Karma Pizza".

"Pizza! Do you want to go here?"

"Y-yes, that would be…" A simple 'yes' seems to suffice, because as soon as it reaches Sealand's ears, he's tugging on Latvia's hand once again, urging him inside.

Looking around, both Sealand and Latvia notice how busy the place looks, with a dirty blond-haired girl handling a party of about nine or ten children. She wears a green Jungle Karma t-shirt, probably customary for a worker of Jungle Karma Pizza.

But despite how crowded the pizza joint was, Sealand appears to have his heart set on eating there, so the two make their way over to an empty booth.

While sitting there, Sealand notices the girl on duty turn her eyes over to them. Judging by the strangely excited look she wears, the micronation guesses that she's enthralled by the idea of having new customers to serve.

The dirty blond-haired girl heads over to their table, having returned from the back where the oven was- probably to pass an order to the cooks.

"Welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza. I'm Lily and I'll be looking after you guys today. You haven't been here before, have you?" she asks, smiling. She seems pretty friendly, but Sealand notices her eyeing them a bit strangely, as if registering suddenly that they're just kids.

_I don't look that young, do I? _Sealand thinks. _Only 12 or 13…and Latvia's like, a thousand years old. Oh well, I guess we can't tell her that…_

"No, we're from far away and we're visiting a friend, but typically he hasn't shown up yet!" Sealand replies brightly. That is typical of Alfred.

"Y-yeah, he's not exactly known for b-being on time," Latvia speaks up, the stutter still evident in his voice, but Sealand is just happy with the fact he has the courage to speak up around new people. Maybe it has something to do with the girl, Lily, who seems very approachable. He's like Poland when it comes to talking to people he's not familiar with, hiding behind Sealand until he's comfortable.

"Well, you should still give him a chance. What would you like to drink or do you want to wait for him?" she asks.

Sealand thinks for a moment, and then comes across the thought that Alfred is probably eating at McDonald's at that moment. Despite his being always hungry, there's not much point to waiting. "No, we'll order and eat without him." Sealand declares.

"Well, I'll give you a few minutes to look over the menu and then I'll be right back," Lily says. She turns and heads towards the cash register, where the Asian guy manning it appears to be asleep.

"Okay!" Sealand says cheerfully. "What do you want to get?"

"I-I don't know…" Latvia says, looking at the menu. "Something small, I guess…" He himself doesn't eat very much, but Sealand seems to have caught on to Alfred's eating habits. That in itself is somewhat amazing, because the food England and Finland cook for him is usually burnt and inedible or strange.

While Sealand looks over the menu, Latvia remarks, "That girl seemed v-very happy to have new customers…"

Sealand nods. "Either this place doesn't get much business, or she just knows everybody in Ocean Bluff!"

"I don't think that's the case…" Latvia murmurs, casting his gaze at the boisterous party of nine, but Sealand has already turned his gaze over to the Asian boy talking with Lily at the counter. "Look at that…" he says. Then the boy's blue gaze brightens. "That boy looked like he was taking off sunglasses…why would he be wearing sunglasses insi- Latvia! I mean, Raivis!"

"W-what?" Latvia cries, scared by the sudden loud calling of his name.

"This is just like in Power Rangers: Jungle Fury!" Sealand exclaims, his eyes suddenly taking on that strange glint that Latvia usually associates with Power Rangers. "The Solar Morphers…this is so cool!"

"Ah…" Latvia tries to find words to reply, but they'd probably just get swallowed up in the torrent of Sealand's gushing._ How does Japan put up with it…? _He notices Lily walking towards them, but she stops and throws her apron on the counter as the Asian boy grabs her arm.

In the midst of Sealand's exciting talking, Latvia mutters to himself, "I guess we won't be getting served anytime soon…"

Sealand ceases his talking, realization hitting him, but too slow for the micronation to put everything together at once. He follows Latvia's eyes to where his friend is watching Lily, their server, and the Asian boy going out the door.

"Maybe we should find some other place besides Jungle Karma Pizza…" Latvia suggests.

And it's like a bolt of lightning to Sealand's mind. "Jungle Karma Pizza! Come on, Latvia!" He pulls on his friend's arm, tugging him out of the seat and heading for the door.

"Raivis…." Latvia's correction was lost as Sealand led him towards the door. "I know I said that we might have to leave…but why…?"

"It's like Power Rangers!" Sealand explains, without really explaining at all. "There could be some battle site or something…they could be right in front of us! This is like the best trip to America ever!"

Latvia doesn't know how to respond to that, but that's usually what happens anyway and Sealand is perfectly fine with that. As Sealand walks away from JKP, one hand still on Latvia's arm, Latvia looks over his shoulder.

They both run in the direction that they see Lily and the other guy go towards. Well, really Sealand is running and kind of just dragging Latvia along with him. But Latvia still had to move his feet to keep up with Sealand's gait and he had to move his mind as well to keep up with his excited chatter, so that justifies that.

In the town square, Latvia sees a battle scene right out of the Power Rangers shows he's always watching with Sealand. Three costumed people- red, yellow, and blue- are battling a red, muscled, armor-clad…whatever it is.

Being a nation and living with Russia for who knows how many years had subjected Latvia to war and many things a normal human wouldn't dream of, but they were always realistic. Never has he seen anything like this…an actual monster, fighting the three costumed Rangers- that's what Latvia assumes they are, anyway- surrounded by masked creatures Sealand had christened the "jumpy-things."

Sealand, meanwhile, was getting over the awe he was feeling. There were actual Power Rangers in front of him, fighting jumpy-things, and a villain he couldn't remember the name of. He hadn't seen Jungle Fury for so long, since England was disdainful of Power Rangers and had confiscated his video collection, and Denmark and Norway had an "accident" involving Norway's magic and fire that resulted in the destruction of the TV and his second video collection, a gift from Japan.

But while he was trying to figure that out, Latvia was tapping him and reminding him of the danger- there were monsters, didn't he notice? But Sealand just reassures him like he usually does: "I'm made of iron and steel, remember?" Literally.

"Besides, these are Power Rangers! We can totally help them out!"

"You sound like Feliks…" Latvia sighs but still follows his friend over to the Rangers, which most people were fleeing away from. Still, the people of Ocean Bluff seem to acknowledge that the Power Rangers are here, and therefore the villain will be beat and all will be well.

But as the two countries- well, one country and one micronation- near the scene, that appears to not be the case.

The Rangers appear confident, at first. Sealand and Latvia listen as the blue Ranger looks towards the other three, saying, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yep," the yellow Ranger responds. Listening, Sealand can tell that she's female, and while he already knew that, her voice is strangely familiar.

"Jungle Master Mode!" The red, blue, and yellow Rangers scream. "Latv- Raivis, whatever! They're going to get their firing jets! And their costumes will change! Awesome!"

"Um…I don't think you understand the trouble here…" Latvia mutters, cowering behind his friend. He's probably going to end up pulling Sealand out of the way though, in all of the micronation's ecstasy.

Just as the jets fire and the fourth Ranger charges, there's a second explosion. More follow it, and Sealand can see the Rangers losing power. The yellow one has already de-morphed, and the blue one is right behind her.

Latvia hears "Lily!" called, and looks towards the de-morphed yellow Ranger, wondering if he's right. She's still conscious, and calls, "Guys, I'm okay! Just finish him!"

"Had enough?" the monster questions. "Grizzaka!" Sealand says. "Great, I remember! But… Latvia, they're so screwed!"

"Okay, now you've made me mad!" the red ranger declares. He and the fourth Ranger charge, but they're sent back next to their fallen comrades.

"You're right about that," Latvia replies. "But-"

"We're going to help them!" Sealand proclaims, then rushes at the monster.

"But….but…" Despite Sealand being made of iron and steel (or so he said; Latvia had never tested it out, since Sealand was never attacked and the only injuries he's sustained was a burn when his fort was set afire) Latvia really doubted that he could stand up to Grizza-a-whatever its name was.

Latvia begins to pull away the yellow Ranger towards Jungle Karma Pizza. He was right; it was the same girl who had served them- or prepared to serve them- back in the pizza shop. So she was actually a Power Ranger…

Latvia pulls her into the shop, now cleared of people, and gently sets her head on the floor. He heads back out to the town square, to check up on Sealand and to get the other three. He mildly curses himself for having such a small land mass and country, guaranteeing that he will never grow in physical size and possess nation strength like America's. Even so, he's slightly stronger than the average boy his age, and continues to pull the blue Ranger, now the Asian boy at the cash register, back to the shop.

Setting the now de-morphed blue Ranger down in the pizza shop, Latvia sees a glasses-wearing girl come out into the dining area, clad in the JKP shirt and an orange hat. Her eyes widen.

"What's going on here?" she cries. "Who are you? What happened to them?"

"I-I'm R-Raivis Galante," Latvia replies, stutter back in full force. "T-They're the P-Power Rangers and…" he stops to catch his breath.

"Yeah, I know they are," she responds in a 'duh' voice, but still freaking out.

"Y-yes, and m-my friend's out t-there, a-and…" Latvia breaks off again, clearly freaking out just as much as this girl, whose name tag identified her as 'Fran'.

"Your friend?" Fran repeats. Her expression makes it look like she's used to these situations, although not having Ocean Bluff's resident Power Rangers passed out on her floor. "Well, you'd better go save him, before he ends up like these guys."

Latvia squeaks, hoping that's not how Sealand is at the moment, passed out in the town square, and exits JKP to get the other Rangers, mumbling quickly under his breath about Sealand and the mess they've gotten themselves into.

Sealand, meanwhile, had faced off to Grizzaka, who seemed surprised to have such a small opponent compared to the Power Rangers he had.

After that, Grizzaka had decided that he might as well blast this pest anyway, because he was bound to be annoying, just like the Rangers. Sealand had watched enough Power Rangers and was enough of a 'ninja' (well, he had walked on water and jumped several stories onto his fort to fight aliens, but that's another story) where he could dodge and as a result of that, Grizzaka was quite mad.

Sealand briefly wonders what happened to Latvia, but at least he's assured that Grizzaka's not attacking his friend, because the monster's attention is all focused on him. Dodging another blast, Sealand thinks about how awesome it is that he's literally fighting a Power Ranger villain, while also thinking about how Latvia was right on how dangerous it might be. England had never really explained to him about nations being immortal or not…

"There's nothing like a Power Rangers team-up!" Sealand calls. "Rocket punch!" And with that, he socked Grizzaka.

Being made of what he is Sealand thought that punching an enormous Power Ranger beast wouldn't hurt him, but in reality he feels like he had slammed his fist against a brick wall repeatedly. Trying not to repeat what England said every time he burned something (which was every time he got in the kitchen) Sealand fell to his knees, rubbing his knuckles and muttering, "Oww…."

Grizzaka looks at him angrily. "I'd defeat the Rangers and take your friend if I had enough power." Was that Latvia's 'eep!' Sealand is hearing above the din? "But that's no matter, because Dai Shi's plan will work out eventually!" And then Grizzaka was gone.

"P-peter!" Sealand turns around at the use of his human name, seeing Latvia standing at the entrance to Jungle Karma Pizza, which they were just in. Latvia beckons to him, and judging by the fact that the unconscious Rangers are missing from the square, Lativa must've moved them.

Sealand runs over to the shop, wondering just what could be next.

"Just what is going on here?" A worker, named Fran as far as Sealand could tell, confronted the micronation as soon as he walked in. Her hands were placed on her hips.

Sealand assesses the scene. Latvia is trying to explain to Fran what happened, but his stutter is getting worse from having to talk to a new person and probably from the overall situation at hand.

Stepping in for his friend, Sealand explains just what happened (and tried to tone down his excitement, because it was obviously an awful predicament and not something wonderful).

"I need to call RJ…." Fran says, shaking her head.

"No need to, I'm already here." A long-hair man with slight stubble resembling France's walks in. "I succeeded in my mission of successfully scaring off all the fish…" he looks down at the Rangers on the floor, slowly beginning to wake up. "Well, looks like we have a bigger problem…"

Sealand hangs onto Latvia's shoulder. "Wow! This is so cool!"

Latvia looks down at the awakening Power Rangers- Lily, the Asian boy, and two other boys. "Y-you think so?"

**Phew, switching between country names and human names. I hope that didn't confuse anybody with the references and all. And yay for Sealand the Power Rangers fanboy.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey so it's me again. Lily's POV. How do you all like the unusual collaboration between Power Rangers and Hetalia? Pretty creative, eh? No? Okay, whatever. We'd like to have some reviews if you all don't mind. Thanks!**

I open my eyes, at first a little confused and scared. _Wait, weren't we just fighting Grizzaka? What happened? I remember that sailor suit…_

I bolt upwards, remembering my friends. _Casey! Theo! Dominic! Are they…?_

I look around then sigh in relief as I find them all lying around me, still unconscious from our fight. But then I take in my surroundings and see we're back in JKP. The brick walls and orange booths are a dead giveaway, not to mention the faint aroma of pizza. I see Fran looking at us worried and then noticing I'm awake.

"Lily! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she frantically asks me, running over. She helps me sit up straighter and I touch the back of my head gingerly.

"I'm okay. My head hurts a little but that's okay. But Fran, what…what happened? Weren't we…weren't we fighting Grizzaka? How did we get here?" Fran looks reluctant to tell me but also confused.

"Did RJ save us?" I ask her eagerly, thinking he got back from his 'fishing trip' early. But Fran shakes her head.

"No, but he's here now." She gestures to the back room. Just then when she turns her head I notice two boys standing off to side. One was whispering excitedly to the other who was just smiling and nodding.

"Fran…what are they doing here? I recognize them." They were the new customers at JKP earlier.

"Actually, they were the ones who…saved you," she explains. "I don't how they did it or why. I was about to ask them RJ came. Speaking of RJ, where is he?" She looks around. I cock my head, confused at the thought that those two boys saved us but I push it out of my mind of now. I turn to Dominic who is closest to me and start to try and wake him up. Pretty soon he opens his eyes slowly and shakes his head groggily.

"Hey Lily. What…what happened?" He starts to sit up but I push him back. I notice Fran had gone upstairs to look for RJ and had left us alone with our, um…saviors.

"Oh no you don't. You rest now. I'm not actually sure what happened. Fran said they" I gesture to the guys in the corner, still gossiping but keeping their distance from us despite them looking over at us every few seconds "saved us, but I haven't figured out any more details other than that. I'm going to help Casey and Theo, okay? Just rest here." He nods, not looking like he wants to disobey me anyway. I smile then proceed to shake the others awake. Theo responds fairly quickly though Casey takes a few more moments to revive. Finally his eyes open.

"You okay Case?" I ask him. Casey nods but doesn't reply. He's probably trying to figure out what happened like the rest of us are. He looks questioningly over at the boy in the sailor suit and his friend. His eyes ask me what happened and I shrug.

Fran walks back from upstairs and RJ follows her.

"How are my comrades doing?" He spreads his arms apart as he squats down to talk to us. We're still fairly weak so standing isn't exactly on the agenda right now.

"Okay," Theo answers, rubbing his wrist. I remember vaguely that he took a hard hit from Grizzaka there but I think that was when I was so close to falling over form weariness. Dominic is a little more enthusiastic.

"Well, except for a few bruises and a pounding pain in my heads, I think I could take another swing at Grizzaka."

"I'm fine. Tired, yes. Beaten, of course. But I'm also seriously confused. What happened with Grizzaka?" Casey looks at RJ expectantly. RJ's eyes stare down as he tries to come up with the right words to say.

"Well actually gang, I'm not so sure myself. Fran says these guys somehow saved you. They're…um, I'm not sure of their names. Fran said one was…"

"Raivis, apparently," Fran says uncertainly. "At least, that's what I think he said. He has-" she whispers the last part softly so they couldn't hear "-he has an awful stutter."

"Well, I'd certainly like to talk to them. Wouldn't' you, guys?" Casey announces. Dom and I nod but Theo looks hard at them.

"Hey, Lil, weren't they the two new customers today?

"Yeah. I don't know how but…" I trail off, not sure what I was going to day anyway. But Theo winks at me.

"I remember because of the sailor suit." I laugh.

"I can see that." Casey gets up then holds out his hand to me, probably not wanting to sit on the floor any longer. I take it and he pulls me up.

I try to ignore the speeding of my heart.

"Hey, um, guys?" I call to the two in the corner. They look over at me, one super happy and the other a little uncertain.

"Could we talk?" The sailor nods, beaming and drags the other over.

"Sure, why not? What do you want?" he asks eagerly. I look at his friend, a little quieter and avoiding our eyes and looking at the floor and turn my gaze back on the one who actually wants to answer my questions.

"Well first off, who are you?" Theo breaks in. The sailor looks befuddled.

"What do you mean 'who are you?' I'm Sealand, but you can call me Peter. And this is Latvia, who you can call Raivis. Say hi Latvia." The shyer one raises his eyes briefly, nods to us and looks back down. The sailor shrugs. We look at each other, confused.

"You're Sealand?" Dominic asks. "And he's…Latvia like, the country in Europe?" Sealand, apparently nods his head quickly.

"Yep!" Dom nods his head slowly.

"R-i-g-h-t," he sounds out each letter. "Sealand and…and Latvia. I'm sure." The sailor looks offended.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just…those are countries. Well, Latvia is. I've never heard of Sealand." Casey explains. "Have you?" I think hard, trying to remember ever hearing that name. It doesn't ring any bells but when you're a Pai Zhuq student, you don't really have time to absorb every single thing you learn in school.

Sealand looks miffed at that. "It _is_ a country!" He says. "No matter what Jerkland says." I raise my eyebrows, not getting that either, as Latvia pulls on his sleeve, trying to calm him down."

"Don't look at me. I was a little busy with becoming a Mentor and all," RJ says. Fran just shakes her head.

"I think it's some sort of battle fortress. But that's it." Theo gets that studious, do-not-disturb-me-I'll-kill-you look on his face as he tries to think back. Of course Theo would know.

"Sorry but I don't think we understand what you mean," I apologize to them. "You're saying you're countries but you're…you're people! Countries can't be people."

"Is it as hard to believe as Power Rangers Jungle Fury actually being real?" Sealand smugly inquires.

"Well that's different. We were raised to be Power Rangers-we just didn't know it," Dom defends.

"Why don't we go upstairs and talk this out a little more?" RJ suggests. "Fran, do you mind shutting down everything?" Fran looks a little unhappy but nods.

"Sure, just don't expect this to be a daily thing!" She calls after us as we go into the back room. Even though I said I was fine, it's a little hard walking up the stairs. Casey takes my hand and helps me up the stairs. I don't notice the look Theo is giving him, as he burns daggers into our backs. Every muscle hurts as we mount the stairs. To take my mind off of my soreness, I listen to the chatter of the 'countries'. I hear them trade quietly back in forth, pointing out random stuff.

"Oh look it's the kitchen! Did you know that the kitchen has been featured in every episode except three?"

"Remember when Dominic came in and pulled that prank on them in 'Path of the Rhino?" I only hear 'Sealand's', so 'Latvia must be smiling and nodding and not talking.

Now that we're all assembled upstairs, I turn to Sealand and Latvia, remarking to myself in my head how weird it is to look at two boys and think that. "Now can you explain the whole 'countries' thing?"

Sealand is gazing around in awe, and as strange as the day has been, I have to admit I am somewhat flattered at his degree of love for the Power Rangers and how much he knows. Nonetheless, he looks preoccupied, so Latvia answers for him.

"We're t-the personifications of the countries," he says, his stutter dying down a bit. We're all a bit surprised he's actually talking since he seems so withdrawn but then I remember how he spoke in the restaurant. Maybe he's always like this. "I don't know how, but the embodiments of the countries have been around since…" he thinks for a bit.

"Four thousand years," Sealand chimes in. "That's how old China is, at least."

China. This is getting a little overwhelming.

"Right. China…" Dom says, winking at us behind the nation's backs. RJ, sitting in his armchair gives Dom a warning look.

"Let them finish speaking no matter how un-delightful or bemusing you may find it to be." Theo rolls his eyes as Sealand laughs, amusement plain in his next sentence.

"I'm only around 70 years old," says the obviously 12 year old boy in front of me, a pout on his face. "That's why the Nordics won't let me do anything, or go to world meetings."

"Right…" Latvia says, probably sensing our confusion and wrapping it up as quickly as possible. Theo looks a bit impatient with Sealand that he's so vague and expects us to understand right away. I put my hand on his arm as a precaution. You never can tell when he'll lose his cool.

"Well, as countries we're basically immortal- at least, I've l-lived long enough. Whenever there's a w-war, or something happens to our countries, we feel the brunt of it." He pauses, looking like he's thinking about something painful. "A-anyway, we do work for our bosses- the leaders of our countries- and a-attend World Meetings. Humans don't really know about us…"

"So you're saying you're not human?" Casey points out. Lativa looks confused.

"N-no, that's not what I m-meant. It's just…it's juts l-like we're the p-personifications of countries." Casey nods, pretending to understand.

We all stand in silence, taking it in. Theo looks skeptical while RJ seems to believe them. Casey and Dom are expressionless and as for myself…I don't know. It sounds absurd, but then again, we are the Power Rangers, so it's not like we haven't seen plenty of things considered absurd to the normal person. Besides, the one kid, Sealand, defeated Grizzaka, which had to count for something abnormal.

Thinking the same as me, Dom says, "Is that how you defeated Grizzaka?"

Sealand nods happily. He answers facing Theo, who he appears to like, probably because Theo knew vaguely who he was. "Yes! I'm not as strong as America, but I did okay with Grizzaka."

"But Grizzaka is an Overlord," Theo points out. "One of the most powerful there are. How did you do it?" At the question, Sealand lowers his eyes. He then looks up, looking a little sheepish.

"Well actually I kind of just held him off while Latvia got you guys out of there. He and I kind of just exchanged a few blows, I dodged most of them and then he said something about a Dai Shi's plan 'working out eventually- and then poof! He's gone. But no worries, right?" at the mention of Dai Shi's name and plan in the same sentence, we all look at each other quickly. RJ frowns.

"So Dai Shi actually has a plan now? Well, that's good and bad news."

"How can that be good news?" Casey argues, astounded at the fact that Dai Shi had a plan that could take us all down was all good and well. RJ might as well have announced that Grizzaka was going to run JKP now.

"Yeah, I agree with Casey. I don't see how that's a good thing," I say. Casey nods at me.

"Exactly. "Dom holds up a hand.

"Whoa, whoa, let's see what he has to say."

"Why thank you Dom. As I was going to say, it's good because if it's taken Dai Shi this long to come up with an original plan, that means it might not be very good. On the other hand, if he's been planning this…plan for a while now, the nit may be very advanced and far outdistancing our skills as of now."

"So you're saying we have to train harder now?" Theo wants to make sure. RJ shakes his head.

"Well yes and no. I want you to train as hard as you can but I also want you-and me as well-to try and find out what his plan is."

"Oh, we can help!" Sealand raises his hand in the air, like an overexcited kindergartener wanting a piece of candy. "We can help," he repeats. "Right Latvia?" He elbows Latvia and he looks startled.

"Um, s-sure. Why not? It'll be f-fun." I feel a little bad for Latvia who keeps getting dragged into all these serious, important tasks. RJ sighs.

"Well I suppose so. But at your own risk. Now, you guys can, uh, rest up and start training again first thing tomorrow. Okay?"

"Fine by me," I say.

"I second that," Dom nods.

"Me too," Casey agrees.

"I would appreciate that very much," Theo adds.

"And what about you tow? Do you have a place to stay tonight?" RJ asks them. Sealand nods.

"Yep, we're going to stay with America. Or Alfred if you prefer." RJ looks like he's about to say something then thinks better of it.

"Well, then, just come tomorrow. We can, uh, see what you got and how you can help us." Sealand nods again. "Say, 9 o'clock? I'm letting them sleep in a little after their beating toady."

"I heard that," Theo calls out from the other side of the room where he's putting his Solar Morpher away. Everyone knows Theo hates to lose.

"Got to admit it someday buddy," Casey answers him.

"Anyway, just be here and we'll work out the details later," RJ concludes.

"Did you hear that Latvia?" he exclaims as they descend the steps. "We're going to see the Jungle Fury Power Rangers train!"

I roll my eyes playfully. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

"I've gotten better sleep on battlefields than I have here," Latvia grumbles to Sealand.

His friend pokes him playfully. "You don't mean that!"

"I do!" Latvia responds. "You're just too ecstatic about seeing the Power Rangers at the moment to even care about our current sleeping arrangements." By that, the Latvian meant the fact that they were sleeping- or attempting to- on a booth in Jungle Karma Pizza. He could recall how RJ had shrugged and apologetically told them that they didn't have any beds to accommodate the two of them, then tossed the two of them a blanket and two pillows and suggested that they sleep on the booths.

"You know…" Sealand begins. "You should always be sleep-deprived before you go into battle. You get really crabby at night, Raivis, and I think that you'd make a really good fighter!"

Latvia doesn't bother to correct his friend in the fact that he's just about always sleep-deprived, and it hasn't really affected his prowess in battle so far. It is true that he gets easily irritable late into the night (especially if something such as the day's events happened, which were unique in themselves but catastrophic in a way a nation must get used to.)

Instead, he asks, "America never showed up. You have your cell phone, right? Why don't you try calling him?" It was Latvia's way of distracting Sealand so he could get sleep, somewhat, but also because he himself was curious as to why America never showed.

Sealand nodded. "Great idea!" he says, a little too loudly. Latvia shushes him, reminding his friend that they _are_ in someone else's "house" and they're probably trying to get some sleep.

Sealand shrugs and pulls out his cell phone. It wasn't an iPhone, or whatever the newest one was. Latvia had trouble remembering technological stuff. England had profusely refused to get Sealand the newest phone.

Latvia leans back as Sealand dials America's number and waits for their fellow nation to pick up. The Latvian's eyes began to slip closed as he leans his head back on the pillow, and only briefly hears Sealand remark, "Pick up…pick up…darn it…."

"Raivis?"

"Mm? Yeah?"

"America didn't pick up." Latvia rubbed his eyes, aware that he had dozed off, and sat up. "He could be sleeping."

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why he forgot about it in the first place." Sealand shook his head. "Never mind. I'm going to try to call Finland and Sweden next." Latvia nods sleepily.

"Wake me if they say anything," he tells the micronation.

Sealand nods and calls his family. To his surprise, it's Norway who picks up, and not Finland or Sweden.

And what the normally emotionless nation told Sealand scared him more than anything he had seen that day.

Finland and Sweden were gone. Even though Norway was typically good at concealing his emotions, Sealand heard the clear confusion in his voice, as well as how panicked he was. Accordingly, they had just vanished. Since Norway hadn't been with the two of them- out walking Hanatamago- he had no idea how it happened. Just that the Scandinavian country couldn't trace either of them.

Sealand's hands tremble as he grips the phone and assures Norway that he and Latvia are fine and that they have a place to stay the night. He skirts around the topic of whether or not America came, because he doesn't want to worry his "uncle".

Sealand's hands still tremble as clicks "off" on the phone. What happened to his family? He looks over at Latvia, to tell him the shocking news. He is surprised to see the Latvian boy fast asleep, sprawled out on the booth.

Sealand considers waking him up to tell him the terrifying news, but can't bring himself to disturb Latvia when he has such a peaceful expression on his face, not after everything the micronation dragged him into that day. Besides, he figures that it would be better to tell him when the Power Rangers are around, so that they can plan a course of action- if the Jungle rangers would be willing to help them out, that is.

Sealand crawls over to Latvia, laying down on the booth next to him and prying the blanket out of his friend's hand so that they can share. He realizes that he's still shivering. There's still the thrill of meeting the Power Rangers in his mind whenever Sealand thinks about it, but he only now begins to consider what powerful allies they are- ones he's glad to have.

Sealand squeezes his eyes shut, preparing for a sleepless night when, in fact, sleep comes as quickly to him as it does to the boy next to him.

**/ / /**

When Sealand wakes up, it's to the sound of talking. He sits up, trying to remember where he is, when it all comes flooding back to him: Power Rangers. Huge Monsters. Pizza. Strange force kidnapping nations. It's quite a wake–up call.

Looking for the source of the noise, Sealand spots the rangers assembled at the counter, all talking, and, as far as he can tell, eating pizza. Despite everything he's been through, Sealand reverts back to his 12-year old mind and feels a flash of excitement at that. Would he and Latvia get pizza too? Finland and Sweden would never let him do that, although Denmark would always remark nostalgically, "It's like college again!" to which Norway would smack him on the head.

Ah, good times…ones that make Sealand's chest hurt.

Next to him, Latvia is sitting up as well. He spots the rangers and hurriedly pulls the blanket away. "We should probably go over there." he says to Sealand, who nods in agreement. All the micronation does is adjust his cap. Latvia's hair is sort of naturally tousled, so Sealand assumes that his friend won't have many problems.

"Good morning!" Lily, the yellow ranger, greets them as the two come over to where they're all gathered around the counter. Theo nods, Casey waves a piece of pizza, and RJ simply says, "Mornin'."

"Good morning!" Sealand tells her back, cheerfully even though he's feeling slightly down. It seems hard not to around Lily. Latvia says a "G-good morning," that has his typical stutter but is quite loud for him.

"Pizza?" Dominic, the Rhino ranger offers. Sealand nods and reaches for a cold slice. Eating pizza with the Power Rangers- only in his wildest dreams, even though it's not exactly the most ideal situation at the moment. Latvia takes ones as well.

Glancing around, Sealand acknowledges how strange the situation was. There were 5 rangers and two nations (because he _was_ a nation, no matter what Jerkland said!) all eating pizza together. Of course, the normal onlooker wouldn't know any of that, so maybe it wasn't as bizarre as Sealand thought it to be.

"So," RJ says, swallowing a bite of pizza. "You two," he casts a look at Latvia and Sealand, "will be training with us this morning. Let me assure you, it is a very strict regimen, and if you can't keep up you, take note of the fact that there will be punishment!"

"Yeah, okay." Casey says, rolling his eyes behind his mentors back. Lily giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. Latvia doesn't know if he can take RJ seriously or not, for after he reprimands the two of them, he walks into the back room, zigzagging slightly. Sealand isn't sure whether to disregard RJ or not, but turns his attention to the Red Ranger. "What can you two do?" Casey asks.

"Well, I can do a Rocket Punch and other really cool stuff!" Sealand offers up the information excitedly. "Did you see that yesterday? Anyway, I'm not very good at doing the martial arts stuff like you guys, even though I tried it one time. That's sort of Japan's thing."

"What's a rocket punch?" Lily asks curiously, taking a bite of her pizza. Theo answers for her, the barely concealed annoyance in his voice.

"It doesn't exist. It's not a real move," he says pointedly, looking at the younger boys. "At least not a move the Pai Zhuq masters would've taught us."

"Neither is lot of other things," Casey reminds Theo, glancing back at the door RJ just went through.

Sealand feels slightly disappointed at Theo's contradiction. In his opinion the rocket punch was pretty awesome- but then again, it wasn't like he hadn't already been told that it didn't exist from Japan (which had resulted in very loud, one-ended phone conversations).

"Well, anyway, I can do that…I don't know about Latvia," Sealand looks over at his friend, who appears to timid to contribute anything about his abilities. "He can use weapons, though. And he's very durable!" Latvia nods rapidly, although he looks a little pale, so Sealand decides to stop elaborating there.

"Well then. Let's test this out," Theo proposes. Casey nods while Lily looks a little hesitant.

"Guys, shouldn't we let them get used to everything first? Training can come later."

"Not for you, I'm afraid," RJ breaks in, stumbling out from the back room. They all crane their necks to see what's the cause of RJ's limp. He waves away their concerns as he addresses the rangers.

"Seeing as Grizzaka has made an appearance for the first time in a few days, I think that we should be training harder now. We don't have any idea what they're up to, which isn't good, so to the training room." He turns around after beckoning the others to follow him. Casey and Theo shrug and get up from their seats to follow RJ. Lily takes her time and comes over to the two nations. She takes both of their hands and leads them through the back room.

"Come on. You can watch us train and maybe even pick up a few things for yourselves," she encourages them beaming and trying to make them feel more comfortable, seeing as her friends aren't making much of an effort. She actually feels a little bad for them-to be thrust into such a new world, full of such strange and unexplainable things, what must that feel like?

Well, she's already been through that, so maybe she knows how they feel.

Latvia smiles at her, still not saying anything but a little more relieved since she's acting so friendly. Sealand takes note of her friendliness as well and decides maybe this is the time to tell both Lily and Latvia about what he learned last night.

"Um, Lily…" Sealand begins hesitantly. "Before we go up, can I tell you about something? It may be important, but I'm not sure."

Lily halts at the foot of the stairs. Latvia pauses too, once Sealand nods at him to assure him that it involves him as well. "Sure," she says, sounding mildly curious.

Sealand pauses, unsure of how to begin. If what he guessed was right, it was a meshing of two worlds- the power ranger world and the nation world. If that were to happen, learning the different names of the nations would have to be something Lily and the other Rangers would have to get used to.

At Lily's indication to speak, Sealand began.

"So, we were here originally to visit our friend, like we told you- but our friend is actually America. He was late in picking us up, which is how we got involved in all of this. He never came, though. Last night I called him, and his voice mail said something along the lines of, 'Canada, if that's you, I'm looking like crazy for you! Where are you?"

Sealand notices how Latvia looks surprised, since he had been asleep and Sealand didn't have time to share the information with him. Lily looks interested as well. A little confused, yes, but still intrigued.

"Anyway, after that I tried to call Finland and Sweden." Glancing at Lily, he adds for her benefit, "Those are the two countries I live with. Instead of talking to them, though, I ended up talking to Norway. He told me that Finland and Sweden had disappeared."

Latvia's eyes widen at this. Lily raises her eyebrows. "Go on," she says.

"Well, I don't know…it's just that, it seems like something happened to Canada, and definitely to Finland and Sweden. And you guys were attacked by Grizzaka, which is weird. So maybe there's a connection there? I'm not sure how things work between the Power Rangers world and the nation one, but there could be a link." He finishes and looks to Lily, wondering what she will say to it.

"I see," she says evenly, seeing where he was coming from. Although she still didn't really get the whole 'nations' thing, she had enough sense to know that something was definitely off.

"Well, let's tell the others after we get some practice in. It's probably going to help. And knowing Theo, he's going to want to prove to you guys there's no such thing as 'rocket punch', so you're going to have to do something about that." She gives them a smile and starts up the stairs, still dragging their hands behind her.

Even with the seriousness of the situation, Sealand finds himself smiling as well. There definitely is a rocket punch! As he thinks this to himself, he notices Latvia trying to catch his eye. Although the small nation doesn't say anything, Sealand knows he's asking if he's okay after hearing about Sweden and Finland.

All Sealand can do is flash a smile at him. He isn't really all that okay, but it's better to put on a brave face for his friend. He'd make it through. Besides, Sealand knows that Latvia would be slightly upset by the news as well. After gaining independence from Russia, Latvia would always tag along with Estonia to see the Nordics, and spent a lot of time with Sealand in his home with them. Consequentially, Sealand knew he liked them both.

Entering the training room, the three of them see Casey and Theo preparing to spar. Dominic is sitting on the stairs leading down to the wide open floor while RJ is leaning back in his chair. His face is a look of contentment, despite the dangers lying ahead. Lily, Sealand, and Latvia go over to join Dominic.

Suddenly, the Red and Blue Rangers move into action after standing still for so long. Theo lunges at Casey, but he manages to dodge it and sweeps a leg under Theo's, knocking him off his feet. The Blue Ranger lands on his back, but springs up instantly, skirting around Casey and giving him a sharp but for the most part harmless blow to the back. Apart from the fact, of course, that it knocks him to the ground.

Latvia is surprised by their speed and grace, which looks incredibly hard to reciprocate. It sort of reminds him of the time when Italy tried to hug Japan during a World Meeting. Refusing to be violated again, Japan broke out in martial arts not unlike the ones that were being done by the two Rangers. He's a little surprised that they're not using their Morphers, but puts it down to the fact that they probably only save those for real battles.

Casey is back on his feet, and he and Theo are exchanging hits and blocks. Occasionally the other tries to break through his opponent's defense, but they seemed to have reached a stalemate.

That is, until Casey manages to sneak a blow under Theo's defending arms, pushing him backwards until Theo landed on his backside. "Give up?" Casey asked. There are a few trickles of sweat down both his and the Blue Ranger's faces, but other than that they look relatively fresh.

Still, Theo concedes and Casey helps him up. From the sidelines, Lily congratulates Casey, telling him good job with a bright smile.

To Latvia, it didn't seem like a big deal- just a teammate congratulating a teammate for a few good hits. But he could feel a certain tension in the air in the way Casey returns her smile widely and Theo looks put-out and rather sullen as he watches the two.

Latvia could definitely feel some sort of romantic tension there between those three, and glancing at RJ and Dominic and the looks on their faces he guesses that there's nothing new about it. Of course Sealand, being oblivious like he always is, just remarks on how that was "cool!"

From the looks Casey and Theo cast the two of them, Sealand could tell they were waiting to see if they wanted to join in. Sealand desperately wanted to volunteer, but he decided to watch another sparring match, and maybe some other cool Power Rangers training exercise before actually trying it for himself.

"We'll go next," Lily volunteers herself and Dominic. Nodding, Theo and Casey step over to the wall where the others are. Lily faces Dominic in the center of the room, her eyes sparkling with a friendly sort of light, although still showing a certain fierceness that made Sealand think her a formidable opponent in battle.

Dominic was obviously no pushover either. As the sparring match started, he blocks Lily's first blow and then all her others. She backs up, then flips, launching herself over Dominic, and upon landing, spins and kicks him in the back.

Dominic falls forward, but manages to push himself back up and turns to face Lily, just in time. She tries to kick but Dominic manages to get his leg up in time to bar her way. Locked in that position, the two break out of it and continue sparring, both equally matched.

Latvia watches, fascinated. Like Lily had said, they could pick up techniques from watching training. In a war, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the long run, but it was still useful to know for close combat. He is impressed by both of their skills.

The two are evenly matched enough to the point where they are both panting, but neither can pin the other. "Shall we call a tie?" Lily says, wiping the sweat of her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Fine by me," Dominic replies, but he's smiling. Lily heads over to where the others are sitting on the stairs and surrounding areas and plops down beside them. Dominic however, he lays down right where he is, sprawled on the large mat covering the wooden floor.

"Good j-job, Lily," Latvia says, feeling confident for once. Lily smiles, sensing he's coming out of his shell.

"Yeah!" Sealand says enthusiastically. "You too Dominic."

Lily grin grows larger and Dominic too has a small smile on his lips, although his eyes are closed. "Do you two want to try it now?" he asks.

"Sure!" Sealand responds, although Latvia knows that a simple 'sure' doesn't quite cover how excited he is to do it. In a way, Latvia hopes it distracts his friend from the problem of Finland and Sweden disappearing.

RJ stands up from his chair. "How about this," he begins dramatically. "The two of you spar with me- because you'd need two to fight the master, and that might not even be enough."

Latvia notices the playful eye-rolling from Theo, Lily, Casey, and Dominic, but he also notices how none of them seem to doubt that their mentor can take down both him and Latvia with ease. In a way he's slightly nervous because he himself isn't that good of a fighter. Latvia is a rather small country, and even though he's fought before, it's usually with weapons, typically swords or guns, none of which he has. In terms of physical fighting his small stance lack of skill are fairly damaging. The most practice Latvia had ever had was at Russia's house, and that really didn't go down well.

Sealand, meanwhile, looks determined and declares, "Challenge accepted!" Latvia nods, while hoping it wasn't a _silly-little-nations/kids-what-are-you-getting-yourselves-into_ look passing amongst the Rangers.

The three of them stood in the center of the room. "Oh, RJ," calls Lily. "Shouldn't you wear a blindfold for this?" The smirk in her voice is evident, as the amusement is showing on the others' faces as well.

RJ casts her an approving glance. "That's a good idea." He finds a piece of cloth from behind the television set and ties it around his head, successfully covering his eyes. Latvia doesn't know whether to take this as a warning sign or not.

Then, before he can contemplate on that anymore, Sealand has launched into action. He tries to land a blow on RJ, but somehow the blindfolded Purple Ranger senses it and knocks him away, straight into Latvia.

Somehow RJ could hear that as well, because before long he's onto them and landing hits on the both of them faster than Latvia's eyes can follow. He and Sealand manage to block most of them but it proves close to impossible to get their own jabs in.

Sealand finally manages to duck under a blow and pushes RJ away from them. Latvia stumbles back by him as RJ straightens and finds his bearings. One look at Sealand and Latvia has a feeling he knows what's going to occur before it happens.

Sealand punches RJ- except he doesn't make it, because, miraculously, RJ stops it cold with his fist, without seeing it. Latvia appreciates that, because he'd seen Sealand's punch knock Denmark cold once- by accident, of course. No wonder RJ is the mentor of the Jungle Fury Power Rangers.

Of course, Sealand looks frustrated, and isn't anticipating the hit that Latvia sees coming his way. So the Latvian nation puts himself in front of his friend, taking the punch with his upraised arm. Sealand pulls away, and Latvia feels pleased enough that he managed to take a blow for his friend. It's too late, of course, to see RJ's leg come up and knock him off his feet, landing him on the ground.

Rather winded, Latvia tries to rise again when RJ grabs his arm and yanks him up in a most uncomfortable way, and it isn't much better the way he's holding him. Latvia tries to struggle free but he's no match for RJ and he knows it.

"Surrender?" RJ asks.

"Ah…y-yes…" Latvia says. It's embarrassing, but he knows he can't beat RJ and the way he's holding his arm is awkward and hurts. If he were Italy, he probably would've broken out a white flag by then.

Releasing Latvia, RJ looks to Sealand. "I guess it's just you and me now," he says. How RJ can tell where Sealand is while blindfolded, Latvia has no idea, but his gaze is straight at Sealand, so he must have so effective method.

"Okay!" Sealand says, and the two leap into action.

Latvia walks painstakingly slow over to the others, not caring about how weak he must look in front of them. Theo is barely keeping his face blank as the others are a little more successful. Lily puts her arm around Latvia and although he stiffens up, he doesn't pull away. He sense that she's genuinely sincere and he…likes that. He likes that someone actually cares about him. He first experienced that with Sealand. Even though he, Lithuania, and Estonia were often paired together, and Latvia cared for them and vice-versa, they weren't as close as one would think and most of the time they spent together, at Russia's house, was silent and stiff as not to incur the northern nation's wrath.

"That was a good first try," Lily comforts him. Noticing his unconvinced expression, she laughs lightly. "Don't worry, Casey and I were terrible at first when we fought him blindfolded too. It all works out in the end, you'll see." Latvia just nods, not quite trusting himself to speak.

To Latvia, it is flurry of hurried hits and punches while Sealand tries to keep up with RJ's quick moves. Apparently watching hours of Power Rangers pays off, though, because Sealand looks a lot better than Latvia knew he himself had.

While Latvia is focusing intently on the sparring match going on, Lily turns her gaze away from that and over to the TV by RJ's chair, which was left on. She's surprised to see a flashing news report. Looking closer, she sees that there a bunch of Rinshi attacking town, along with…Jellica?

Lily looks around at Theo, Casey, and Dominic, and sees that they all see the danger as well. She looks over to where Sealand and RJ are fighting. RJ has Sealand pinned- as they all knew he inevitably would. It was surprising he hadn't gone down with Latvia.

"RJ!" Lily calls. RJ looked up. "Yes?" he says smoothly.

"Um...there's trouble," Lily glances back at the TV. "Rinshi in town, and Jellica there's too." RJ realizes the seriousness of the situation and lets Sealand up.

"Let's go," he says. Sealand looks a little miffed but also quite relieved to be let up from his doomed sparring match with RJ. Instead of voicing that, he asks, "Can we come as well?"

Lily exchanges a glance with her fellow Rangers. On one hand, Sealand has proved to be a fairly decent fighter, if not hyperactive and in need of better training. Still, he doesn't seem to understand how dangerous things can get and is still physically around 12 years old. Latvia, on the other hand, knew all that and appeared a little wiser but was timid and not much of a fighter.

Then again, there wasn't time to decide. The two nations would be coming with them.

Even though Sealand's inwardly excited, it is dulled by the serious feeling that this could have something to do with the disappearance of nations. He sees his expression mirrored around by all of the Rangers.

"Come on," Casey says, taking control like the Red Ranger he is. And they head out to another fight, not knowing the dire consequences that would await this decision.

**A/N: Hi, ForestFireSong again :D Wow, I think this was one of the longest chapters I've written for anything. (Is that sad?) Anyway, things are really starting to get action-packed, unless you consider this a filler chapter.**

**Well, enough nerdy ramblings. I hope you enjoy, and please read and review! (Although, if you're this far, you've probably already read it, so one step left!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: It's me, StarSlingerSnitch once again with my chapter. Lily's POV, as usual. Warning- major Lily/Latvia sibling-like fluff. It's so sweet I can't stand it!**

"Maybe you should stay in the back," Theo suggests, his comment directed at Latvia and Sealand. Sealand frowns.

"But we can help you! We sparred with you and I actually lasted a while against RJ!"

"But you didn't beat him," Theo reminds him, putting on his solar morpher as we continue to run towards the scene. I roll my eyes behind my own morpher.

"M-maybe Theo's right, Sealand," Latvia says softly, trying to hold back his friend from barreling into an unknown situation.

"Finally, a voice of reason," Casey tease. I stifle a laugh.

"We let you come, that's far enough," RJ tells them. "Stay behind us and don't' run into a fight. Let's morph, guys." We all nod.

"Jungle beast, spirit unleashed!" we all cry out at once and morph, still running.

"Remember, stay behind us," Casey cautions them when we arrive at the edge of the city. I shake my head, knowing he needs to loosen up at them, sure, they're young and sure, they have little to know fighting experience, but he was the same as them only a little while ago.

"Casey, let it go. They can take of themselves, let's just finish this." Casey turns to me and I feel like he's about to say something but then he forces his attention back to Jellica and her army of Rinshi.

"Glad you could make it, rangers. And who's this?" she asks, pointing her staff at the countries behind us. I take a step in front of them. Habit, I guess, to always protect someone.

"Our secret weapon," I call out proudly. Jellica's look of surprise is priceless and Sealand's smile is almost as big as his face. Latvia looks a little more wary, but still happy.

My friends, however, are not.

"Lily! They're not our 'secret weapon'!" Theo reprimands me.

"Yeah, why'd you say that?" Dominic joins in. I sigh.

"Guys, battle going on here," Casey reminds us.

"Right, right," Dom mutters. Theo turns to me and if I could see inside his helmet, I'm sure I'd see him frowning at me.

"This isn't over, Lil," he says under his breath. I smile brightly, knowing Theo can't stay mad for long. Especially at me.

"Of course not," I answer him then turn my attention back to our upcoming fight. The adrenaline stings in my veins and my breaths become short, quick.

_Let's do this._

"Come on guys!" RJ calls and we charge forward into the mod of Rinshi. "Stay back and fight carefully!" I hear RJ call out, probably mostly towards the younger nations who are each looking a little hesitant to join the battle, as excited as they-or more specifically, Sealand-was.

I jump over a foot soldier, kicking him in the back in the process and as he falls, I land in front of them, skidding slightly on the small pebbles. I hold my hands out to them.

"Care to join us?" I ask them. Sealand grins hugely but Latvia is still content to hang back.

"I-I don't know, Lily," he stammers. "I m-mean, you saw b-back at JKP, I'm n-not a very good fighter…" I wave away his excuses.

"It's okay, you don't have to be a prize fighter. I'm certainly not, and no matter what the others say, they're not either."

"Yeah, Latvia! Everyone can't fight perfectly one hundred percent of the time! Let's fight! Rocket punch!" he screams, charging at a Rinhsi and hitting it in the gut. It falls before him and he looks on triumphantly and then runs off to another. I turn back to Latvia who is watching his friend fight the Rinshi.

"Hey," I say, kneeling down to his eye level. "I'll stick close to you, okay? I won't let you get hurt." Latvia gives me a timid smile, a spark visible in his eyes for the first time since I've known him.

"O-okay. Let's…fight?" I laugh, pulling on his hand towards the foot soldiers advancing on us. I kick on in the torso, still holding Latvia's hand.

"Yeah, let's fight. Duck!" I pull on his hand and he leans forward, missing the punch to his head that the Rinshi tried to give him. I spin him in towards me, jabbing another soldier with the opposite hand as Latvia kicks out, knocking a Rinshi down. He looks startled for a moment, then smiles. A real smile, not a shy smile.

"This is fun," he exclaims, without a trace of his stutter. He lets go of my hand and I take my eyes off of him for a second to evaluate how the others are faring.

RJ and Casey are fighting Jellica by themselves and are actually doing pretty well against her. When Casey goes flying, I feel a tightness in my chest. But when he gets back up, I exhale a breath I didn't even know I was holding. I shake my head and deliver a flying kick to three Rinshi and they knock into each other.

Theo is handling his group easily, no surprise there. Yet when he is pushed back, my heart starts to beat a little faster, only returning to normal when he gets back up.

Dominic is shoving his way through his foot soldiers, pounding them around as casual as taking a walk in the park. I shake my head at his easiness.

Sealand…well Sealand is screaming and running around, pushing and kicking his way through, he is knocked down quite a lot, but always gets back up with enthusiasm. I always wish I could go and help him, but making sure me and Latvia are doing okay is all that I can handle for now.

We continue to fight the soldiers until the circle surrounding us is done for, lying at our feet. I turn to Latvia, who is breathing heavily. He has a cut on his cheek and several bruises on his arm, but seems fine.

"You okay?" I ask him, checking out my own injuries and seeing the others make their way towards us. He nods and I discover I've really grown to love him. Him and Sealand, as my little brothers. As much as I wish that's how I felt about Casey, as I told him, or even Theo, they are my real, fake, little brothers.

"Yeah," he nods. "It's h-harder than I thought but it was a-also fun." He nods. He's back to his stutter but since he abandoned it for a minute, that's all that matters.

"What about you guys?" I call out to them as they join us. Theo is slightly limping and RJ is holding his arm but they all seem relatively unharmed.

"Theo, what happened?" I ask, referring to his limp. He shrugs.

"Just the Rinshi. Nothing I can't handle." I feel the degrees in my helmet go up several degrees but don't comment.

_No. Best friend, remember? Best friend. _

"Well, you took care of them pretty easily. This will be tougher than I thought…" Jellica mutters. "This calls for backup, I suppose. Grizzaka! Carnisoar!"

"Uh oh," Casey murmurs. I nod, knowing this can't be good.

"You said it," Dom agrees. "Grizzaka, Carnisoar, and Jellica-great."

"This time, you really need to stay in the back," Theo says to the countries. This time, they don't argue and take a few steps backwards.

"Don't worry guys. We got this," I exclaim, trying to be positive. But even with my sunny outlooks, having all of the Overlords against us is not a good sign.

"They're not here yet, though," Casey points out. I give thanks for his calm manner in times of crisis. "Let's just…"

"So you think you can take a break, rangers?" Jellica interrupts him, stabbing her staff into the concrete. "Tsk, tsk, how pitiful."

"I'll show you pitiful," Casey growls but I touch his arm and shake my head-a warning sigh. She could be playing us until she gets backup.

Suddenly, they appear in front of us in a shower of dark magic. Carnisoar and Grizzaka. _Them. _

I narrow my eyes at them inside my helmet as they sneer down at us, pushing Latvia and Sealand even further behind us.

"Well rangers, seems you are prepared for us," Carnisoar says, airing out his wings. To intimidate us, I suppose. It's not going to work.

"More like prepared to lose," Jellica smirks. They all laugh as we look on, unimpressed.

"Oh yeah? Well, just watch us win!" Dom shouts back at them, anger plain in his voice.

"Come on, let's play," Grizzaka joins in. he charges towards RJ. RJ's ready though and blocks his hit.

"You guys heard her. Let's fight," cries Theo. Jellica jumps right in between me and Theo so we look at each other and nod. _We got this._

We circle around her as Carnisoar makes his way towards Casey and Theo. I notice the nations cowering behind an abandoned car.

"Stay there!" I shout at them, ducking beneath one of Jellica's kicks. Theo takes out his Jungle fans and blocks all of Jellica's hits with her own staff.

"Here girl, let me show you how a real women does it," she snarls as she slashes me in the chest. I stagger backwards but then crouch down and aim my fist upwards, catching her in the jaw.

"You're not a real woman," I answer back, dodging her hits and stepping aside as Theo uses his Jungle Fan to make her take a few steps backwards. I run at them and leap over Theo to deliver a kick that she shields with her staff once again. My foot connects with her staff and she's knocked backwards a bit as I fall, landing on the palms of my hands.

"You okay?" Theo asks me, pulling me up by one hand. The spark that happens between us I hope goes unnoticed by him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I get up, clutching my wrist to my chest. It feels like the muscles were stretched over my bones too tight, probably from my fall, but I'll survive. We rush back at Jellica and each aim for her arms, trying to knock her staff from her hand. She just swipes it around and shoves us backwards but I flip over her next hit and slash her with my Jungle Bo. We exchange blows quickly until Theo intervenes and swipes a leg under her feet, tripping her. She gets up and looks at us balefully.

"Don't be so smug, rangers. We have something else planned." She suddenly lashes out and shoots at us. The explosions make us fly backwards a few feet and I land hard on the ground as I cradle my still slightly-throbbing wrist. I pant trying to get to my feet. I make it halfway up before Jellica plants her foot on my stomach. It knocks the wind from me and I pull in deep breathes of air. It's like she's putting all her weight on me and with all my strength, I can't shake it off.

Theo is lying a few feet away from me but isn't getting up wither. He turns his head and sees me as I continue to suck in air. _At least you're still okay. You're okay._

"I told you, yellow, that we had something planned. Ah, look. It's happening now." I turn my head to where she's pointing…and feel the bottom of my stomach drop.

There's Casey and Dom fighting Carnisoar, dancing around near the side of the mountain.

And RJ…

RJ is lying down, still morphed, but helpless as Grizzaka walks away from his prone figure and over to…

Over to the nations.

_No._

Sealand is pushing Latvia behind him, his chest puffed out, prepared to fight Grizzaka once more. But when he runs up to him, Grizzaka simply blasts him away and he flies onto the hood of the car Latvia is still hiding behind. Latvia gets up, his face scared and my heart goes out to him. He's so young…

Grizzaka advances on him, snarling. Latvia tries to run away from him at first, skirting around the car but Grizzaka doesn't fall for that trick and shoots at him, knocking him onto his backside. Just hearing the little country cry out pulls at my heartstrings.

Grizzaka leans down and pulls the nation up by his arm. Grizzaka then looks in my direction, holding the struggling Latvia.

"Like our plan, rangers?" He cackles evilly, adjusting his grip on Latvia as he cries out and kicks the overlord. I feel my mouth drop open as I realize how close we are to losing him.

"Guys, Latvia! Help!" I call out to the others. But they're too preoccupied with their own fights to notice what's happening. Notice what could change everything.

"Theo! Help him! Anybody!" I struggle beneath Jellica's foot as she laughs at me. I feel water in the corner of my eyes but I don't cry. Not yet.

I see Sealand catch my eye. He looks panicked too, and is trying to scramble to his feet to reach his friend. I can see his hand reach out, but all in vain. He's immobile. That means it's me…just me…

"Stay tuned, rangers," exclaims Grizzaka darkly as he starts to shimmer around the edges. He's fading.

"Latvia!" I scream, reaching my hand out towards him. He looks so scared and small and innocent…

Caught in the grip of evil Earth overload.

Jellica's weight is lifted off me. I look up to see her gone and see out of the corner of my eye Grizzaka and Latvia vanish completely.

"No!" I pull myself to my feet and sprint over to where they were. I slide to the ground and pound my hands into the dirt, willing him to come back.

Come back to me.

"Latvia…" I whisper, griping the dirt with my darkened gloves. My mouth is open in a silent scream that I can't seem to move past my throat. _I promised to protect him. I told him everything would be okay. Everything would be okay…_

I let him down.

"Its okay, Lily. It's okay, we'll get him back." I hadn't notice the others come up to me until I hear Casey's soft voice right by my ear and his arm around my shoulders. I sense, rather than see, the others around me as well. I hear Theo hissing in pain, Sealand's soft whimpering and Dom's steady breathing.

"I…Casey, I couldn't, couldn't help him. I…" I can't go on and finally let my tears leak out. There aren't many, just a couple, but they contain more sadness than a thousand.

Casey's words, the words I always say, echo dully through my brain.

_Everything will be okay._

I feel like I just lost a piece of myself.

Like I lost my little brother.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: ForestFireSong here! Have I mentioned I hate writing in present tense? Well, I do. Also, maybe it'd be easier to do 1st person… Anyway, here you go, hope you enjoy the angst- er, story!**

Sealand's eyes are fixed on the spot where Latvia disappeared. The spot that used to hold his best friend (albeit in the grasp of a villain) but is now void of anything but Lily on her knees, whispering hopelessly to herself, and Casey seemingly comforting her.

Sealand, meanwhile, is simply standing there. He can't move, and not just because of the injury he sustained when he was thrown into the car hood, although that does hinder him a bit. (But he's made of iron and steel, isn't he? It's strange, right then he feels like the wind could blow him away right then…) He's not moving because of shock, of grief setting in when realization hits him. Latvia's gone. Not dead, probably, (_hopefully) _but gone, taken by some monster.

_And he couldn't do anything about it. _

He knows that his friend isn't completely helpless. Being immortal is certainly helpful in situations such as these (unless, of course, the monsters decided to utterly destroy the country of Latvia; in which case he _would_ die) but that doesn't take away from the fact that they can harm him. Latvia has definitely sustained pain; more than most people would imagine, but it's not that he would _want_ to go through anything like that.

And maybe part of the reason Sealand can't move is because his best friend is gone.

There's a tap on his shoulder. Slowly, in the style of one who has just recently frozen in place because of some traumatic incident, he turns his head to see who it is.

It's Theo. With a slightly uncomfortable look on his face, as if he's not sure how to handle situations like this, the blue Ranger asks awkwardly, "Are you okay? That must've hurt…"

Sealand realizes he's asking about when he got thrown into the car. His body does hurt, but it'll heal itself soon enough, and is probably already healing at the moment. So he answers, "Yeah…I'm fine."

In reality, he doesn't feel fine. The whimsy of meeting the Power Rangers in real life has faded, to be replaced by the fear he feels in face of the bleakness of the situation. With Latvia gone, taken by a monster, and knowing that something similar had probably happened to Canada, Finland, and Sweden, Sealand is not in the best state of mind at the moment.

But it wouldn't do to tell Theo that. Sealand wants to appear mature, able to handle the situation. And he definitely doesn't want to cry, because he hardly ever cries. And when he does, they're rarely serious tears, just silly ones over trivial matters. He'd be as lost as any of the Rangers if he really cried now.

"That's good," Theo says. He's not smiling- who would be smiling in these circumstances?- nor does he induce any feeling of security like Lily, but Sealand feels a little better just having someone there, who's actually worried about his well being.

"Now, let's go get the others. It's probably best that we leave and try to figure out what to do back at JKP." Theo's in control now, making plans, utilizing his practical mind, which is easier than figure out what to do with the completely lost micronation in front of him. It is a sad sight and he wishes he knew how to help, but that was much more Lily's thing than his. Speaking of the yellow Ranger, it's also a priority that they help her.

Sealand nods numbly. For a moment his mind yelled that they had to stay there in case Latvia came back, but that's obviously not happening. And it'll definitely be easier to plan the next course of action from Jungle Karma pizza.

"…It'll be okay," Theo adds after a moment's pause before beginning to walk. As Sealand follows him, he notices almost the same words forming on Casey's lips to Lily. It doesn't appear to be helping her much.

But really, how much help _is _'it'll be okay'? Without a guarantee, words just feel empty and fake, no matter how sincere the speaker originally was. Sealand nods anyway, an acknowledgement of the help Theo was trying to offer.

They approach Lily and Casey. Now Dom is there too, simply standing apart with a sympathetic expression. RJ has apparently gone around looking to see if there are any monsters remaining.

But they've got their prize, so there's no reason they would be. RJ just does it anyway.

Casey looks up. "Hey," he says, evidently exhausted from the fight. His greeting doesn't garner a response, from Sealand or Theo. Theo immediately heads for Lily, kneeling down next to her. She's on her knees, head hanging, the picture of defeat.

Sealand, meanwhile, doesn't trust himself to open his mouth, but doesn't want to leave the red Ranger hanging. "Hi…" he says. It sounds weak, even to him, but Casey doesn't comment on it, only rising to his feet and running a hand through his hair.

Sealand crouches on the other side of Lily, whom Theo was consoling. She still has her helmet on, unlike all the other Rangers and he wonders if she's crying. She's not saying anything just listening to Theo's comforting words.

Then there's a lapse in Theo's words, and Sealand can hear Lily talk, whether it be to herself or to Theo or both.

"I should've protected him…" she says, her voice only slightly higher than a whisper. "I even told him I'd protect him, and yet, I didn't…"

Sealand's throat closes up, alerting him to the onslaught of tears he knows he'll have to block. It was never Lily's job to protect Latvia, even if she had taken it upon herself. Latvia should've protected himself, but even if he hadn't, Sealand would've done it, like always.

"Sealand?" Sealand opens his eyes, not even aware that he had been squeezing them shut.

"Yeah?" he says, proud that his voice doesn't even crack.

"Are you okay?"

Physically, Sealand knows he's fine. Emotionally, though, he feels like a wreck. But as with Theo, he decides to hide that, and, not doing such a good job this time, answers, "I'm fine."

"That's good…" Lily responds. Sealand can't see her eyes through her helmet, but she sounds exhausted. Then she removes her helmet and he notices the tear tracks on her cheeks; not too many, but enough to tell him that she'd been crying.

Then she rises from her kneeling position and briefly rests a hand on Sealand's shoulder. It's supposed to be comforting, Sealand knows, but despite being adept at that before Latvia was taken, Sealand knows Lily can't exactly comfort anyone now. So he turns the tables on her, and, in what seems to be a faux-positive voice to her, says, "We'll get him back."  
Lily smiles at him, and Sealand feels relief that she can at least do that, because he doesn't feel that he can. "Let's just go back to JKP," she tells him, still with a note of hopelessness in her voice but aside from that, looking, if slightly, cheered.

Theo gets up too, and stands on one side of Lily, Dom walking next to him. Casey goes on Lily's other side, an entourage of support for the somewhat shell-shocked yellow ranger, despite her beginning to feel better. RJ comes back from searching for any more monsters, and after talking quietly to Casey, stands on the other side of the red ranger.

Unfreezing himself, Sealand runs over to stand by RJ. The purple wolf ranger looks at him sympathetically without saying anything, and Sealand is forcibly reminded of earlier that morning when he fought RJ and almost won, when they had no idea of what was to come next.

When they return to Jungle Karma Pizza, Fran is just opening it up. She looks at the beaten, worn rangers and seems to contemplate asking them what happened, but instead continues working as they head upstairs, although she does continue shooting them worried looks, particularly at Dom.

The six of them trudge upstairs, stopping at the very place they had trained in that morning.

Sealand plunks down on the ground as the rest of the rangers settle themselves amongst the room, RJ in his chair. As Sealand predicted, the wounds he sustained from being thrown into the car are healing, and all he feels is a slight headache and tiredness. He shakes that away in prospect of listening to what the rangers are planning to do.

Actually, that's a variation of that is the first thing spoken in the room. "So what are we going to do?" asks Dom.

Glances are passed amongst the Jungle Fury rangers. "Well…" Casey begins. Then he stops. The rangers all look at each other again, as if mentally communicating a plan. That's when Sealand speaks up.

"We have to find the place where everyone's been taken."

Immediately, all eyes in the room are on him. Sealand remembers attempt at World Meetings, before he was chased out, trying to garner this much attention, but usually ending up without anyone listening. Now the stage is set, and he has an audience.

"Well…" he begins awkwardly, much as Casey had. "Latvia's not the first of the nations to be taken, and if we assume that they're all together, and then we need to find out where that is- probably the base of Grizzaka and that lot…"

He waits for someone to speak up, and Theo is the first to do so. "You mean Latvia wasn't the only nation to be taken?"

Realizing that he and Latvia only told Lily, Sealand explains to the rest of the rangers about calling Sweden and Finland and Norway's concern at their disappearance, as well as America searching for Canada.

"How can you be sure that those are connected?" Theo asks, slightly skeptical.

"Maybe they're not," Sealand replies, trying not to feel defensive. "But it's the best lead we have, and since we saw Latvia get taken directly- why not?"

Theo looks fairly contented with that answer.

"So, um…where is this base?" asks Sealand, losing confidence over his lack of information.

"We're not sure." Casey answers. "It's hard to track the Overlords. Although if we'd have to guess, they'd be wherever Dai Shi is, as they serve him."

"And Jarrod," Lily says darkly, while Sealand remembers the information about the evil spirit and the fallen student who had accidentally released him and as a result, got his body taken over.

"Besides, why do the Overlords- or to an extent, Dai Shi, want the nations anyway?" Theo asks, and all the rangers nod in agreement to this (with the exception of RJ, who is merely watching all of them with an unfathomable look on his face).

Sealand realizes that they're all looking at him and shakes his head, trying to find an answer himself. "I'm not sure…" he admits. "Since the nations are pretty much the world, this is an indirect way to take over the world, and even then, he could probably end a large part of the world if he has enough nations and manages to treat them bad enough…"

He thinks over what he just said, and feels a strange sense of paranoia at the thought of what Dai Shi and his minions could do to the nations they captured. Typically what the actual nation does and what happens to it affects its avatar, and not in reverse. However, it's possible to severely cripple a nation's avatar and affect the actual nation by using the right methods, or even start a war.

It's a scary thought to think a Power Rangers entity has gone international in his plans of world dominance.

_Besides, some of us have inhuman powers…Dai Shi may want to harness that._ As he thinks that, Sealand feels a flash of hope. _We're powerful…Dai Shi can't take us down that easily! Even England has magic and once had an empire that the sun never set upon. And Latvia himself can fight. This situation isn't hopeless!_

The rangers seem appeased with the answers. "Okay." Casey says. "Those sound plausible."

"But as for what to do…" Theo continues.

"First, we should find out wherever their base is," Lily states. She seems to be recovering, because she looks more energized by the making of plans. "And then we have to charge it, get in and defeat the Overlords, Dai Shi, and hordes of Rinshi, all while getting the nations out, who can presumably help us, and then be on our way!"

"Easier said than done," Dom remarks mildly.

Theo, however, gets right into strategizing mode. "Okay, once we find the place, how are we going to defeat everyone in there? We barely lasted against Grizzaka, and this time around, against all of them plus the Rinshi, well…it was a disaster." He ends it without specifying any further.  
"We need more backup." Casey agrees. "All we have is the five of us, and Sealand-" even though being with the rangers has been less than satisfactory, to say the least, Sealand feels a twinge of pleasure at being acknowledged- "and that can't be enough."

The rangers are all stumped, or at least as far as Sealand can tell. If they're plagued by attacks like they have been the last few days, then they definitely won't be strong enough to launch an attack on their overpowered enemies. _They need help…_

Even RJ appears to be thinking over the subject. Sealand strains his mind, trying to think of where help might be- until he sees the obvious answer.

"I've got it!" he exclaims. Once again, all of the rangers look over at him. Sealand feels a flare of excitement at his plan.

"I'll just call in some of my micronation friends!" he declares. All of the rangers stare at him, and then at each other, which Sealand feels is or is becoming a common occurrence.

"There're more of you?" Dom finally asks, although he looks like he's laughing.

"And did you say micronations?" adds Theo.

"Yes!" Sealand answers to both. "I've got some mirconation friends who'll probably be happy to help, although Liechtenstein can come too, if she wants. The plus side is that since we're not actual nations-" Despite its advantage, Sealand doesn't feel any less bitter saying that- "aside from Liechtenstein, we probably won't be targeted by Dai Shi."

Lily is smiling at him, and Sealand feels slightly better. "I think that's a really good idea," she says.

"It does make sense." Casey agrees. "And we need all the backup we can get."

Dom is still laughing, or at least grinning. "I'll never get all this nation-micronation stuff," he exclaims. "But it sounds like it'll work, so let's go for it!"

Theo nods, looking grudgingly impressed. "Who knew there were other micronations here to offer their service…" he says.

RJ merely nods, and everyone else takes that as a confirmation, and Sealand takes out his cell phone (remembering using it the night before to call Sweden and Finland; he decides to call Norway again after phoning the micronations to see if he'd found out more) in preparation of calling his friends.

"How far away is the farthest one?" Lily asks curiously. Sealand thinks for a moment.

"Um…Hutt River and Wy are in Australia." He decides that to be as far as his friends are spread.

"I've never heard of either of those places." Casey says.

"Don't worry!" Sealand tells him, feeling cheerful with the fact that they've got a plan, or at least part of one, that'll get Latvia and Sweden and Finland back, and straighten everything out. "You've probably never heard of any of the others, either!" He raises the phone to his ear to begin the calls.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So this is my chapter and this is where it will start to get a little complicated. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! And now, the seventh chapter of 'The Nation's Jungle Struggle'.**

"Seborga speaking."

"Marcello?"

"Sealand?"

"Hey!"

"Hi!"

"How is it going?"

"I need your help Marcello," Sealand exclaims. "There's big trouble for the nations."

"Big trouble?" Seborga repeats, his accent faint hearing him through the phone. "Sounds intriguing. And I can help how…?"

"If you would come to America, that'd be great!" Sealand sees Theo raising an eyebrow at how loud his voice had gotten and tries to quiet a little.

"America? Is Alfred there too?" Seborga asks. Sealnd shakes his head before remembering…he's on the _phone._ Seborga can't see him.

"No…uh, that's part of the problem. Could you just come, please?" Sealand waits for his answer. Latvia probably would've been better persuading him to come…

_Latvia._

He bites his lip hard, trying not to cry out. He can't really explain it to Seborga partly because talking about it would make it so much more painful. He'd rather leave it to the others to explain when all the micro nations got here. Is 'ugh' an emotion? Is there even a word for the pain of the loss he feels?

"Sure, why not? Quick question though-is there food? Are there girls?" Sealand rolls his eyes at Seborga's priorities but the edges of his mouth curve up a little bit. Seborga is uplifting him without his even knowing about it.

"Yes and yes! I'm at a pizza parlor-"

"Oh perfect!" Seborga breaks in. "I'll be there! I wonder if American girls are as cute as Italian ones. Oh, but don't tell Monaco."

"Actually-" Seland begins but there's a slight _click _to show Seborga has hung up. Sealand sighs and presses the _end call_ button as he turns to the others.

"Well Seborga is on his way," he says, his voice a little bit more cheerful then it had been before. Now that he knows the others are willing to help, it makes him feel a bit better. He's not alone in this struggle.

"Seborga?" Casey looks puzzled. "And that is where?"

"I'm pretty sure it's Italy," RJ says, leaning forward in his chair. Sealand nods excitedly.

"Yeah, RJ's right! How'd you know that?"

"I am familiar with a lot of knowledge that others would perceive as useless," RJ answers mysteriously. Theo and Casey exchange exasperated glances.

"Well I'm impressed," Dom says. "Personally, I've never heard of it. But let's see how many of the other micro nations you can name."

"I accept that challenge," RJ responds lightly. Sealand manages another smile. He can tell they're trying so hard to cheer him up after losing Latvia and discovering Dai Shi's plan. He appreciates it, he really does. To think that a couple days ago, he never would've thought he'd find such good friends in the worst of times.

Speaking of friends, he realizes Lily hasn't said a thing since telling him she thought calling the other micro nations was a good idea.

He looks around and finds her seated on the steps leading up to the makeshift kitchen. Her arms are around her knees and she's staring at a spot on the ground, her eyes never wavering. Except for the slight rise and fall of her chest, she's as still as a statue.

"Is Lily okay?" he asks, worried about her. Of course he would be the most affected by losing Latvia but Lily seems to be taking it pretty hard. He can see why, though. They had bonded very quickly and for Latvia, one to be so shy even around people he's known for ages, to like her so much obviously showed there was something more to their relationship.

"She's just in shock, I think," Dom answers, following Sealand's gaze to the yellow ranger. "And of course she's sad."

"Should we talk to her?" Sealand watches as the rangers look at each other.

"If you want to, sure. But she's kind of hard to talk to when she's like this," Theo whispers. "It's actually a little scary."

Sealand tilts his head. "Scary?"

"She's usually one to be positive," Casey explains. "To see her like this…completely defeated…well, it's unusual, to say at best."

Sealand nods and doesn't say anything else. But he can't ignore the yellow ranger. Deciding to call the other micro nations later, he walks over to where she's sitting and takes his place beside her.

She looks up, her eyes red and glassy from trying to hold back tears and succeeding for the most part. However, a few tears trail down her face. She wipes one away.

"Hi," she says, her voice raspy as she gives him a watery smile. Sealand tries to grin back at her but he doesn't know if he's successful. It's hard to be strong for others when he can barely hold himself up.

"Hi," he answers. He wracks his brain for something to say to distract her. It's funny, usually he can't stop talking and now when he needs a change of subject, his mind is blank. "Um, Seborga is on his way. I'm going to call some others later."

"Okay." Lily nods. She looks down and suddenly gives a dry laugh. "I'm sorry, Sealand. I shouldn't be the one breaking down now. You've known him so much longer then me…I should be trying to comfort you, not the other way around."

"No, Lily, it's fine," Sealand reassure her. Of course, with every breath he takes it's like a stab to the chest that reminds him Lativa's gone but he tries to hide it. He's not one to hide his feelings but to break down now would just show that he's not as strong as they thought. Even though Lily is breaking down now, it proves that she's strong. Besides, he has some comfort. The rangers can fix this. The rangers can do anything.

And yet…

"He was just like…like a little brother. I know that must sound weird but it is what it is. I'm an only child and just seeing him…it just made me feel like a big sister." She continues to stare at the floor as she says this. Sealand feels his heart go out to the cheetah ranger. After knowing them only for a short time and to think of Latvia that way…it makes some tears well up in his own eyes. But he pushes them back.

He thinks Latvia would like to know that. That he has Lily as a big sister. It's comforting.

"And you too, Sealand. You're my little brother too. And I won't let anything happen to you." She glances up this time, meeting Sealand's wide-eyed gaze.

"I swear it."


End file.
